Busy Beavers!

Well, it's been well over a week since my last post, but not without reason. We have been very busy with spring cleanup and some light construction on top of all the normal day-to-day stuff.

To start with, the weather has finally turned warmer (high 50s, low 60s) so we've been out cleaning up the yard...picking up some fallen branches that were knocked down by the winter storms, raking up the last of the leaves from last fall that got buried under the early snow, and clearing the salt and sand that got deposited on the edge of the lawn from all the winter storms. With the exception of some "scars" from the plow digging up some sod here and there, things look pretty good! We also made some changes, like moving the compost pile to another area of the back yard and arranging some low stone circles out front to be used as flower beds.

Last Sunday was especially nice (considering the time of the year anyway...) so we decided on the spur of the moment to tackle a project that we've been thinking of for some time which is adding stairs to the back porch. Well, it already had some, but we removed some things, added others and generally improved everything! Below is a picture tour of what we did on Sunday.


This is the first picture I took, but before it was taken the railing was removed from the edge opposite the door and a set of steps was removed from where Ron is standing.

Here goes the addition of the first set of stairs, the width of the whole porch...


Here they are, complete. Notice the empty ground where Ron is kneeling...


...which will soon have this unfinished extension of the deck on it...


Here it is in place with the new and improved stairs on the narrow edge of the porch.


And here you can see where we ended. All the stairs are done including the diagonal edge which was a pain. Today we put the final touches on the stairs by adding kick boards so you can't see through to the space underneath. Our next warm day off, we'll be power washing the whole deck and giving it a fresh coat of paint. We're very happy with how it turned out and know that we'll get a lot of use out of it...not only for its intended use, but also as extra seating when company visits this summer as well as spots for plants and flowers!

As for the sweater, it's coming along, a little slow but sure. I am probably 80-85 percent done at this point. My goal is to have it done before our trip to visit my parents in PA in three weeks. We'll see how I do!

LISTENING TO: Jill Sobule - "Underdog Victorious"

A great little album from Jill. More of her fantastic melodies mixed with her tradmark wit and melancholy. I love what she does with Chicago's "Saturday in the Park" to make her own song "Cinnamon Park."